Breaking Point
by DreadingTheDayWhenYou'reGone
Summary: Zhi Ruo has had dreams of being free of bending for other people. Now, with the ceremony close at hand, and her plan nearly finished, she has a way to be free of Bolormaa's power.
1. Chapter 1

**Sooooo, I had this dream about the Avatar world, but with some changes. It basically is an alternate universe, set before Aang and all that happened in the show. Basically Harmonic Convergence does not exist here, but there is a similar event that occurs every fifty years or so. Umm, but beyond that, I think I explain everything relatively well, and will be trying to update somewhat regularly. I want to get on a better schedule of writing, which is why I'm posting this. But I am writing a lot more stuff, some not fanfiction.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Just am here to write some dreams I had about benders. Enjoy.**

* * *

Zhi Ruo grasped tighter to the shell of the tortoise and the chain connecting her to the benders above her. The water pounded into her relentlessly, the only thing keeping Zhi Ruo and the tortoise from falling into the watery depths below being her mind, her strength, and the earth wrapped around the tortoise's legs. She hated this. This practice ritual and the ritual in and of itself was stupid. It was old. It was dumb. The gods themselves were stupid.

She grunted, waiting for the rest to finish getting in position. She cursed Yoskolo for being so fierce, so angry with the way he formed the water right on her. Zhi Ruo knew it was procedure, that it technically wasn't his fault. Everything was calculated. But the curses still flew, and she felt the water lighten just a little. She smiled, waiting for his tug on the chain to let her know she could start moving, to start the umpteenth practice ritual.

But, this was one of the last practices before the real ritual. The one with people surrounding them and the spirits watching, the worlds moving to be in sync with each other. Those long gone watching over the four benders, working together, working to show off the skills of the years they've trained.

Zhi Ruo couldn't wait until it was over. Finally, after years and years of practice, of mastering bending and watching the other three train, of learning what each element had to offer, of nurturing this tortoise and living away from the life she wanted to live, it would be over, forever if her plan went accordingly.

She was tired of remembering her grandfather's words, saying, "I'm so honored that you've been chosen. That my family has been honored to take part in the sacred ceremony." He had smiled and patted her head, and that was one of the last times Zhi Ruo spoke to her grandfather. She remembered him speaking so highly of when he saw the ceremony fifty years ago, and she never understood why.

The chain tugged, and Zhi Ruo changed her thought process. She moved automatically, left hand holding the rough shell of the tortoise, right hand gripping the chain. Despite her hatred for the ritual, Zhi Ruo smiled. She had connected to the tortoise, to this sacred animal, and could bend through him. Her? She never actually knew. Zhi Ruo just knew them as an entity greater than her, wiser than her, better than her. All the sacred animals were like that. They were the greatest and purest form of each element, the oldest beings in the universe.

She reached with her mind, her senses, the techniques she had drilled into her since she was a child, and searched for the earth still connected to the giant tortoise.

This difficult way of bending without touching the ground, without moving and going through the motions, was the hardest form of bending, and Zhi Ruo was the only one of the four to be able to do it. The reason for that was because Zhi Ruo started on the animal and she never truly left it. Whereas, the other three started on the ground and moved in conjunction with their animal, whether on it or next to it. Zhi Ruo thought her favorite combination was Sangye and his hawk, as Sangye held tightly to the chain underneath his hawk, flying and bending as if an acrobat in a show.

Zhi Ruo was jealous, as her section of the ceremony was the most difficult. It took Zhi Ruo years to master it. Yet, she was the youngest. She was twenty four now, old enough to be a productive member of society but she had been stuck with monks and master benders and professors for well over fifteen years. She didn't even remember going to her grandfather's burial ceremony, becoming one with the earth, giving back what he had taken his whole life. She wished she could cry for him, but her mind was preoccupied with the water giving up on pounding her into the ground.

The giant tortoise crested the waterfall to dry land, the source of the water beneath the path of the earth and ceremony. It dripped water into giant puddles on the ground, and Zhi Ruo stood, letting go of the shell but holding on to the chain. She still had a decent time to go before she reached underneath the deep red clay bridge. Between the edge of the cliff and the bridge were countless routines, most of them done atop the animal.

Zhi Ruo twisted and contorted, rocks and hearty earth lifting and flying and landing in heavily calculated areas. Precise. Exact. Her movements were perfect, feet lifting and gracing and dancing atop the shell of the reptile. Her face was stoic, perfect stone, muscles clenching with force exerted. Her arm twisted further and further atop the chain, moving her closer and closer to Yoskolo where he stood, near the edge of her bridge, serpent moving about in the stream next to him. He did not smile. Everything was calculated.

And then Zhi Ruo was there, underneath the bridge and she felt her chain tug towards Yoskolo, and she was free of the metal, save for the remaining chain at her feet. It was long enough to stretch the length of the entire ceremony, enough to be loose and free for each bender to move until Kulap reached the end. It was long enough to serve the purpose that Zhi Ruo had planned. Zhi Ruo was calculated and exact as well. She had thought long and hard about the ending of the ceremony since her grandfather's death.

She knew what she had to do.

All the other benders knew what they had to do, as well. It would all go down in a few days, and then they were home free.

Zhi Ruo smiled, eyes focusing back in on Sangye and his air routine. His twists and turns and flips and the breezes he created as he moved. She smiled and leaned back slightly in the tortoise. With all her hatred for the ceremony, she still enjoyed the movements of all the other benders, and the way they knew exactly what they had to do. Despite all of her built up spite, she had grown next to these people and knew their styles.

But, just as Sangye's hawk flew high up into the air, everything fell apart. There was a section of the routine that Sangye had a portion of the chain that he threw up to hook on to the feet of the hawk and climbed up to ride the beast. During that section, he was airborne, floating and flying and graceful. Well, not this time it seemed. This time, Sangye leapt and reached and snapped the chain to arch up high into the air. The hawk knew its portion of the routine by heart. Any blame fell on the benders if something went wrong.

Sangye flew and the chain missed. It didn't even get close to the bird. It landed on the hard ground with a ringing of metallic. There was a shrill cry from the ending of the road. Sangye fell to the ground with the air supporting him causing dust to fill the area.

Zhi Ruo cringed, knowing exactly what came next. The cry had come from Bolormaa, way up the path, voice multiplying throughout the gorge. She had been on the receiving end of Bolormaa's wrath plenty of times, and she did not enjoy her harshness, especially this close to the ceremony. She could imagine Bolormaa's words, shrill and high and carried by the wind. It was not going to be a pleasant experience for Sangye or for any of the benders, for that matter.

Zhi Ruo subconsciously straightened her back when she saw Bolormaa floating towards the benders. Everyone felt incredibly small at this moment, as they had whenever Bolormaa was angry, or whenever Bolormaa was speaking, or whenever Bolormaa was around. She was terrifying, there was no doubt about that. Her eyes, a piercing gray, never showed fear. They took everything in, every false movement, every falter step. Zhi Ruo did not know how old Bolormaa was. In fact, neither did the other of the benders. For all they knew, she was immortal. She had seemingly not aged a day.

Her blue tattoos shone brightly, painted blue like a clear sky. She was a master, and she knew mistakes when they were made, especially in airbending. In Zhi Ruo's mind, Sangye got the brunt of Bolormaa's wrath, and he was about to receive all of the pent up anger that she had been holding in for days.

Zhi Ruo could see Bolormaa pass Kulap, the firebender, and move quickly to Sangye. There was fire in Bolormaa's eyes, clear as two white hot braizers in the distance. She flew, unassisted and easily, across the dark red clay. Zhi Ruo had heard rumors for years about how only a handful of airbenders could reach that level of enlightenment, but she had learned to accept it as fact after years of Bolormaa floating high above training sessions and battle practices. She could do it effortlessly, and the effect was immediate to those around her.

"We are two days away from the ceremony!" she yelled. Zhi Ruo's breathing stopped, as if Bolormaa sucked the air out of the immediate area. "If you cannot make it that high up in the air, how do you expect to be at my level?" Sangye floundered for words, mouth opening and closing. Zhi Ruo knew nothing he would say could save his hide, that he was done for for the rest of the day.

"We are two days away from two worlds lining up, and you fail a simple jump! We are too close to this to have a failure. You are expected to be able to do this in your sleep. You better act like all that training-all those years, everything this community has done for you-was worth it."

"Yes, Master Bolormaa. I'm sorry. I will do better next time," Sangye said, bowing and avoiding eye contact with those two fierce gray orbs.

"There will be no more mistakes. We will run this through until perfection, again and again." Bolormaa jumped away from the other airbender, high into the air, wind rushing about her and bringing more red dust into the trainees' eyes. "We will restart the ceremony again! From the top. Zhi Ruo, do not hesitate upon the beginning of your section. Yoskolo, more water! More fluid movements. You look so stiff when bending with the serpent!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope all of this makes sense! If not, feel free to let me know and I'll tidy it up more! Thank you!**

* * *

The sun had not yet risen on the day of the ceremony, but Zhi Ruo was wide awake. All four of the benders, in accordance with tradition, had spent the night before the ceremony awake and busy. The dressed in elaborate robes and gowns, each item representing something with the spirits, with the elements, with the gods above, as well as had their face painted with various colors, also representing something special. They meditated with their animals, and they spent few moments with each other, whispering about the plan that was to begin shortly.

Zhi Ruo was not nervous-she had entered a calm state long ago, knowing exactly what to do and how to do it. Everything would go perfectly, even if there were a few bumps in the road.

Kulap clapped her hand on Zhi Ruo's shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Today's the day," the older woman said, smiling at the rising sun. As the sun grew higher, Zhi Ruo could feel Kulap's hand warm, mimicking the heat of the sun.

For better or for worse, she was right. "Today's the day," Zhi Ruo replied. "Today's the day." Sangye, in his robes of white and orange and red, stood slightly beyond the two girls. Both of them could feel his worry. His stress for both Zhi Ruo's plan and impressing Bolormaa was palpable.

Zhi Ruo let the sun warm her, as if she was connected like Kulap. A big portion of their training was to blend all four elements together, to understand that everything was connected, even if they seemed like there was no room for them to connect. The lines were there, Zhi Ruo could feel them. They connected all four of them, whether they were ready for it or not. They arched across their pasts and presents and futures and touched lightly upon some and fell heavily onto others.

She could see Yoskolo to her right, also soaking in the sun. He was the opposite of Kulap in all areas. Her hair was dark and his was white, as if snow clung desperately to his head. She was tall and built and he was rather short and stocky. She stood out in practices, while he blended in. It was just like Zhi Ruo and Sangye. They were opposites in all shapes. But they worked well together. They helped each other in areas that were constantly difficult for them. They were opposites, but they were friends of a sort.

Farther away from where the ceremony would be held, a bell tolled, ringing across the immediate area and reaching the four benders. They stretched one last time, said a silent prayer to whichever god or spirit they preferred, and moved toward the long road in which their life would change.

Bolormaa was already in her position, floating high above everyone and everything, near a rock formation that looked oddly like a person or a snake. Her red robes billowed around her, painting Bolormaa as a floating apparition rather than a airbending master. Her blue arrows wrapped around her body and glowed in the rising sun, just like Sangye's.

Zhi Ruo and the tortoise moved down the waterfall, careful and powerful, aware of everything that was on the line. She ran through the plan once more in her head, knowing each step she had to take, each movement of the chain. She could feel the minerals inside the chain, each rock that needed to be moved to bend to her will. Master Pisan had not taught Zhi Ruo metalbending, but she had studied and read about it and many people in the nearby village knew of it. So she watched and learned and put everything she had studied to the test, and this was her final exam.

Her hand was tight on the shell of the reptile, and it was tight on the metal of the chain. She was anxious, there was no denying that. I think we all are, she thought, thinking of their meeting this morning, or the mixed expressions of her fellow benders. Zhi Ruo took the last calming breath she would have for a while and waited for Yoskolo's signal on the chain.

Her heart beat intensely, climbing its way up Zhi Ruo's throat. She fidgeted with the chain, waiting waiting waiting. Then, it arrived. The tug on the chain that began at the beginning, with Kulap and ended with her. A smile worked its way upon her lips, and she began climbing with the tortoise. Everything was ready. Now, they just had to finish it.

Zhi Ruo crested the waterfall for the last time, mind on her moves. She stood tall, hand clenching the chain. Her robes billowed passed her in the intense wind, and she began bringing up boulders and pillars. The earthbender stacked and created and sculpted her section. She made the calendar for the next fifty years, marking the solstices and the important events to occur on the planet.

Hatred may have ran deep within her veins, but she was still happy with everything she created. She learned things many others would never dream of and was one of the world's greatest benders; she could rival the Avatar themselves, if they were here. Finally, she came to a stop underneath the red clay bridge, in which people from all over were gathered, cheering down at her and watching the rest of the ceremony.

Zhi Ruo sat down on the shell of the tortoise and watched Yoskolo work with the water, mapping the movements of the moon for the coming years. He froze and moved the water with ease. There was a small grin on his face as well, and the transition between him and Sangye worked well, the chain moving and wrapping just around Yoskolo's legs. Zhi Ruo would move the chain to the serpent when Kulap was almost finished, trapping it from moving and finishing the ceremony. While the chain connecting the benders was straight, it had many connecting and separate chains attached to itself. Zhi Ruo did not know why the chains separated in sections, but she would take advantage of them to trap the four beasts.

The animals needed to slumber for years to regain energy. By trapping them, Zhi Ruo realized they could not reach the rocks beyond Bolormaa, where they were meant to rest. Coupled with the unfinished sun rotation that Kulap was required to do, that would speak the end for the ceremony. At least, that's what Zhi Ruo had calculated.

Yoskolo was passing the metaphorical torch to Sangye who had perfected the jump onto the hawk because of his fear of failure. There was a twinge of concern for Sangye in Zhi Ruo's heart, as he was the one that was least adamant of her plan. If he did not follow through, everything would be ruined. Another deep breath was forced into the earthbender's lungs, as she was starting to over analyze the situation. "Do not over think, Zhi Ruo. If you do, you will not perform the way you would like to," said Master Pisan, quiet and in her mind.

Zhi Ruo watched Sangye swing and climb and dance about the chain wrapped around the legs of the bird. He was graceful; even from a distance, Zhi Ruo could see the concentration on his face and the sweat dripping down. She wanted to remind him to breathe, as that was the most important part of the day.

Breathe.

Sangye had landed now, again with grace and near the hawk. He smiled, watching as Kulap moved and warmed the sweat dripping off his face. Instead of watching the firebender begin the sun rotation, Zhi Ruo focused on the minerals and materials buried in the chain. She ignored the feeling of the earth, of its desire to be molded underneath her hands; she ignored her bracelet, tight and hot against her wrist; she ignore the heat from far above and far in front of her. She ignored everything and focused.

And Zhi Ruo waited.

The earth vibrated with Kulap's landing. Heavy instead of the other light steps she had been taking. The signal.

With such ferocity, Zhi Ruo whipped the chain and she jumped off the tortoise, sending the segments of the chain off the beaten road and to the animals. It bent and caught and wrapped around the tortoise, the serpent, the hawk, the lion. It twisted and moved against what it was supposed to do.

A grin spread wide against her face as she watched Kulap grabbed the chain attached to her lion, which was snapping and acting abnormal, and melted it to catch on the ground. Yoskolo, with the help of Sangye, froze the chains attached to the serpent and hawk, restricting their movements with the coldness of the chain and ice.

There was silence in the canyon. Everyone was quiet, knowing something forbidden had just occurred. The sun rotation had not been finished. The ground rumbled, and it took Zhi Ruo a long time to realize that it was because Bolormaa was screeching; a blood curdling noise that rattled the rocks of the earth calendar and shook the bridge above Zhi Ruo.

It took even longer for her to realize that Bolormaa was saying words-a long and painfully drawn out "No". Had Zhi Ruo made a mistake in ruining the ceremony, of breaking tradition? Was she wrong to do such a thing? To want such a life for herself?

"You cannot do this!" Bolormaa yelled. "You cannot ruin this!" Louder louder louder still. The ground had not stopped shaking. It had gotten worse, in fact. There were areas, farther away from the road, that were trembling, moving, pulsating, as if some force below the earth were moving it.

The face shaped wall behind Bolormaa had glowing green eyes now. Haunting and bright. They matched hers. Zhi Ruo stepped back now, surprise and fear working its way into her heart. That was not meant to happen. Rocks did not change color like that, and Bolormaa was not an earthbender. The ground shouldn't be shaking so intensely.

The other three benders ran away from Bolormaa, wishing to be as far away from her as possible. They came to a stop next to Zhi Ruo, who was stunned into silence. The yelling had not stopped. People were screaming now. Zhi Ruo looked at where the majority of the audience had been standing.

"This shouldn't be happening," Kulap whispered, quiet in the loudness. Red clay structures were rising out of the ground, creating a massive city out of the earth. The structures were catching people and they were falling and the noise was unbearable for Zhi Ruo to hear anymore. She clamped her hands over her ears, tears streaming down her face suddenly.

"You should not have betrayed me!" Bolormaa yelled, eyes glowing. The animals were still struggling against the chains; their eyes were bright green now and they seemed to be winning against Zhi Ruo's plan. Bolormaa was floating closer to the bunch of benders, and Sangye grabbed Zhi Ruo's arm.

"We need to leave," he yelled. The earthbender shook her head. There was nowhere for them to go. Yoskolo pointed down the waterfall, and she shook her head harder. But they had to. Kulap took her other arm, and, together, all four of them ran towards the edge of the road and jumped.


	3. Chapter 3

The water would have been cold and shocking if Zhi Ruo hadn't already been shocked to the core of her being. Those green eyes. The terrible shaking that caused waves in the pool everyone was in. The cries of Bolormaa and the audience. Zhi Ruo wanted to vomit. _This is all my fault,_ she thought, head emerging from her dive. This is all my fault.

Yoskolo was treading water a little ways ahead, keeping an eye on all of the benders. The pool of water around him was different than the rest of the lake, and she could tell he was bending the water around them to make things a little easier, to keep them afloat. Zhi Ruo was glad that they all learned to swim years ago, at their own paces, in this very pool. She was filled with relief that she did not sink like the rocks she bended frequently.

Kulap and Sangye brought their heads above water, and their faces matched Zhi Ruo's and Yoskolo's. A look of fear and pure horror. "Where can we go?" Sangye asked. Now, where the waterfall used to be a fierce tumble of water, was slightly more than a stream falling off the edge of the world. Yoskolo, after the descent of everyone, had stopped bending the water.

Everyone's eyes turned toward Zhi Ruo, who had planned this failure, who had brought about pain and destruction. She shook her head, not knowing anything past that green and the way the animals heads had tilted, twisted, moved against the chains. Zhi Ruo was afraid of something she said she would never be afraid for. She was terrified.

"I don't know. That city to the south, maybe? But, it's so far away. Can she sense us? Can the animals track us? Will they attack us? I don't know what to do anymore," Zhi Ruo started, head a flurry of questions, a flurry of images and fear and terror.

Kulap, swimming over to Zhi Ruo, made the earthbender look at her. The water around Kulap was warmer than it had originally been, as the internal heat emitting from the firebender created a warm patch. "Listen to me. You can't freak out. Nobody can. We have to stay calm." This last end of the declaration, Kulap turning to look at everyone else. "I think the city to the south is a good start, as it is technically a sanctuary fortified against evil. I mean, that's what my mom used to tell me."

"We'll need to gather supplies at one point. I think we should start swimming downstream, to put a lot of distance between us and Bolormaa," Yoskolo said. He was looking up the waterfall with something akin to fear upon his face. _Are we all afraid? What are we afraid of?_ Zhi Ruo thought.

"Okay, Yoskolo, can you keep us dry? Create a bubble around our bodies to keep us from getting hypothermia? Also, to keep us flowing at the same speed, so nobody gets left behind?" Zhi Ruo began, speaking at a rapid pace. Yoskolo nodded, working as Zhi Ruo continued speaking. "We'll keep moving until nightfall. We should be about a week's distance from the city.

"We should be safe if we travel during the day and sleep during night. If it becomes a problem and we feel like we're being tracked, we'll switch up our patterns. I don't want to split up, but it could be a last resort. Once we stop, we'll figure everything out, sleep, get warm, setup a guard, all that."

The bubble Yoskolo created had taken the chillness out of everyone's bones and made for a slightly awkward movement in the beginning. As they continued moving, Yoskolo leading the way, Zhi Ruo replayed the ceremony in her head. She could not stop imagining the bodies as they fell from the towers that rose from the ground, or that wicked scream from Bolormaa, or the look of fear upon everyone that trusted Zhi Ruo to do the right thing.

Spirits, had she failed? Had she failed every one that was in the audience, every person she ever cared about, every person in the world? Again, that feeling of vomit rose in her stomach, quickly stifled down by Zhi Ruo's urge to be strong, to be apart of this runaway group. She would vomit later, find a bush when everyone was asleep and let it all out. Honestly, that would probably help with her stress levels. Then, she could focus on getting them to the Chunyong, the city in the south, and the plan-was there one?-to stop Bolormaa and the beasts from wrecking destruction across the kingdoms.

* * *

Night had approached rapidly, and they had made as much progress as possible, only stopping for short breaks and to search for food. They had all been trained of native plants that were safe to eat, but had no time to trap and hunt for animals. But, as the day went on, and Yoskolo and Zhi Ruo worked together to purify the water and Kulap and Sangye looked for shelter and food, tensions rose dramatically at the helpless situation.

Zhi Ruo felt like it fell upon herself to remedy the situation, as she was mostly to blame, if there was any to blame, for what had happened back in the canyon. The tension was thick in the air, between all four of them. No one would speak, as giving life to these tensions would have disastrous results. All of them had strong wills; all of them had their fair share of arguments, especially in the beginning of training and during the beginning of Zhi Ruo's plan to stop the ceremony.

Sangye and Yoskolo were the cool minded benders, understanding reasoning and the ways of the elements and how they played with our souls, though they often had other problems. Despite her temper, and her desire to flare out at Bolormaa often, Kulap was a strong leader, and helped each one of the benders understand the other. Zhi Ruo had a lot of problems with Sangye in the beginning (and sometimes now) with his inability to commit himself. Kulap was there to sort through things. Even now, spirits bless her.

After water had been purified and Yoskolo and moved it to a separate area, constantly floating nearby until sleep was needed, everyone sat down for a very meager meal. Discussion was quiet. Zhi Ruo filled everyone in on her plan she had constructed during the journey. Everyone's minds were moving, dancing, and fidgeting. Tensions were still relatively high, but were bubbling down. Zhi Ruo was glad nobody had to have a talking to, that an argument did not end up erupting.

"There's a volcano up ahead, about two day's worth of travel, depending on our speed. I don't know how we should go around it, because there's many ways," Zhi Ruo began after a long silence. "We could bend the lava, Kulap and I. Or we could cool it down, with Sangye and Yoskolo. Or go around it. The tributary right near it would add a couple of days of round travel. I imagine Bolormaa could fly directly over it. Speed, and time, is really necessary here."

"I don't think we want to be caught," Sangye said. He was remembering Bolormaa's usage of beatings and other punishments. Zhi Ruo was remembering her green eyes and the blood curdling scream.

"We don't have to make the decision now," Kulap added. "We can discuss it tomorrow night, or during the trip. Spirits know we don't have anything else to do. So, we can think about it, let it settle, figure out which plan is the better one. If nothing else would like to be discussed, or brought up, I suggest we get to bed. I already made some tents for us, and I'll start first watch for a couple hours. Everyone okay with that?"

There were a variety of nods throughout the group, all obviously mixed up in their own thoughts. Zhi Ruo felt hopeless, something her grandfather taught her to never be. She stood, added more logs to the fire, and went out to sit near the river as the others settled into the earth tents. _It's going to be a long night_ , Zhi Ruo thought, grabbing pieces of clay from the riverbed to fiddle with as the moon moved across the sky.

* * *

Bolormaa stood atop the great canyon, looking down at the red hot city made of clay, at the green eyes of the beasts below her, at the terror on the faces of random people that were there to view the ceremony. Despite the upsetting bit with the benders ruining her plans, she was smiling. They were no match against her; they were no match against even one of the fierce beasts.

The city, made in less than a hour, spread out before her. The bridges that stood as spots for the benders to end their ceremony, and, later, their life, were taller, redder, more graceful than they had ever been. She had created them. Well, had had a part in shaping and creating everything before her. It was the scrolls, hidden from view in the mouth of the wall behind her. She had found it long ago, and the time to use it was yesterday.

If those benders hadn't ruined everything, that is. She was furious about the delay in her plan, but knew that there could be no stopping her. If the beasts, immortal in their spirits and in their being, could not take them down, then she would step in, flying and more powerful than they ever thought.

Bolormaa knew they feared her; everyone did. It was her eyes, now more than ever, that sent fear through the people before her. Fear was her greatest weapon; she made sure they knew that during training. At the end of the day, fear would kill them, wherever they were going. Fear would tear them apart and bring them here.

"Go," she said, ordering the beasts below her to follow them, to find the traitors. "Go, and don't come back without them." Quickly, the serpent turned and moved down the stream and fell into the pool below. The hawk took to the air and followed, the lion running after, and the tortoise settling down to wait, to guard. Everything was planned, even if the benders had fooled her. Citizens, under her control, were building and destroying and digging. By the time they returned, everything would be ready.

Everything would be ready, no matter how hard they tried to undermine her.


	4. Chapter 4

In the end, the best way to travel was through the volcano. It added only a few extra hours, whereas the tributary added days to the trip. All four of them, actually, worked to move the lava. Kulap and Zhi Ruo to create a path for them to walk, Sangye and Yoskolo cooling the water and lava down quickly. While the river would have added ease to their already stressful journey, the volcano allowed them a chance to stretch their legs, to practice more bending beyond Yoskolo bending the water around them, to be aware of their surroundings, and for quicker travel.

They were doing pretty decently, moving the cooled earth and fire and all the water. They worked in relative silence, thinking, all of them, of the path that lay ahead and the danger that lay behind them. They all had dreams the night before of some variation of Bolormaa's voice and eyes and choices the days before, and that was very close to their minds as the benders moved quickly.

The volcano was constantly flowing, something they had learned during the course of their studies of the land that would be impacted by the ceremony. Zhi Ruo never truly understood why it was constantly flowing, but it had erupted many, many years ago and continued to move. Her grandfather once told her the myth of the volcano, that it was angry at the earth and the river for dividing it from the rest of the world, so it poured and poured for years at a time. When it was dormant, sometimes you could feel the ground rumbling below it, as if in built up anger. As far as Zhi Ruo and the others knew, it continued to pour into the river, creating rough rocks and black sand, long after they had passed.

The rumbling continued as the four of them worked in silence. It was deep and earth moving and Zhi Ruo relished in it. However, the rumbling slowly began to turn towards growling, roaring, something deep and guttural and animalistic. Kulap was the first to turn around, aware, suddenly, that the noise was not of the earth but of something else entirely. The section of lava that Zhi Ruo and Kulap were working with fell, sending splashes of steam and hot water towards them, enveloping Sangye and pushing him under.

"Hey!" Yoskolo yelled, bending Sangye above water and pushing him back onto the slope. "Why did you -"

They all turned to look at Kulap and, instead, saw the lion as one, with their gaze on the mane and the claws and the teeth and the green eyes and the fear that filled the air, palpable and terrifying. "Run!" Kulap's screams filled the air, flipping backwards to dodge a hot burst of fire thrown out of the lion's mouth. She landed frantically on the ground, whisking away the flames that lapped at her feet.

All of the animals could bend, being the first things in the universe to take the elements and shape them to their will. The lion was, perhaps, the most terrifying, next to the serpent, just because of the very idea of it. All the benders knew to respect the animals, but you couldn't help but be scared of those teeth, and the strength behind each move. And the stalking of prey.

Watching the animals eat was always a daily task of the group, but it also terrified them greatly. The orderlies always kept live animals in stalk, and did not want the elder animals to get restless in their age. Just the pure predatory nature of all the beasts, the fierceness of their very being, their ability to kill ruthlessly and survive on their own for eons - terrifying.

"Run!" Kulap yelled again. "Run and watch out for his teeth and the fire and his tail!"

"So, just watch out!" Yoskolo yelled, a slight laugh in his voice despite the heat in the air. Another blast from the lion's mouth and Kulap quickly redirected it into the air, away from Sangye, dripping wet and slightly disoriented. Did he hit his head? Oh no that's not good at all, Zhi Ruo thought. At best, his head hurt a little. At worst, he was going to start vomiting and would be incredibly useless in the coming days.

Zhi Ruo moved towards him, to offer him some protection if it was closer to the WORST side, but the lion roared up and jumped between them, effectively separating Zhi Ruo from the rest of the three. Zhi Ruo cursed, jumping backwards and bringing up a wall of rock to block the coming flames. She could hear the others talking strategy over the wall, but couldn't concentrate one their conversations. It was loud, and she knew she was at a slight disadvantage with working against flames and fire, so she needed to think as to her next move.

The lion came closer, pushing up against the rock wall that Zhi Ruo had created, pushing it roughly against Zhi Ruo's back. She didn't want to run, as that would lead her directly into the path of the flames, not only from the mouth of the lion but also the flames that were licking at the grass, wheat, and bushes littered near the river. Being this close to the volcano, it was a surprise that there were so many flora near the heat, but the volcano had lived for ages, so something had to grow.

Grow. They needed to grow. Zhi Ruo needed to grow. Okay, plants grow root systems and they grow tall the older they get. I can either go above or below. They both held disadvantages, as the lion had a large vertical and the ground meant total darkness. Zhi Ruo hadn't mastered seismic sense yet, not like the badger-moles that they had derived the term from. She would be blind.

But the lion couldn't go under, and the ground would offer some form of protection from the fire. Whereas going above would make her vulnerable to the claws and the fangs and the fire. There was air above, and down below had very limited oxygen. She would have to be quick either way.

Which evil would be the worst?

Zhi Ruo ran, grabbing the earth below her. The plan, as far as plans go, was nonexistent. So she would work on her feet. Or in the air. Or on the earth. She would move quickly and launch herself up and over the beast and land not very gracefully on the ground.

Grace wasn't her strong suit. That was Sangye's.

But she moved, quickly and as strong as she could, with a pillar of earth below her. And as soon as she reached her peak of being one with the earth, she jumped and flipped and felt, too close, too close, the heat from the lion below her.

Spirits. She closed her eyes, out of fear of seeing what was coming. Was it the flames? Or the teeth? Or the green eyes? She didn't want to see any of them.

The air around Zhi Ruo was warming up quickly, and her lungs felt like they were on fire. She wished, suddenly, that she didn't close her eyes. She could have prepared herself for the inevident ground and shaped it around herself. Maybe she could try turning it soft, into sand, it something to not kill her.

The roar of the flames and of the lion were all she could hear, but Zhi Ruo ripped her eyes open. She wasn't too far away from the lion, and her arms were swinging wildly, and the ground was just there, just right underneath her. And she could see the others just to her side yelling. But she still couldn't hear.

Zhi Ruo, still on her nonexistent plan, moved her hands in front of her, crunching up her legs, and willed the earth away. She thought of wet sand, of mud, of just regular sand. She thought of the water nearby, and the earth just below, and she closed her eyes again.

Well, Zhi Ruo didn't die. But she was in darkness. Like water, the earth around her was liquid, but it was dark, like the depths of the sea. Like swimming, the earthbender stuck her arms out and pushed with all her might, and swirled out of the mud-sand-earth combination and flipped, opening her eyes again to see the lion in combat with the other three. She landed, pounding and willing the earth toward the lion.

The spikes of earth that erupted out of Zhi Ruo's muddy legs hitting the ground slammed into the underbelly of the lion, causing him to fly up slightly and land on his side. Zhi Ruo took the opportunity to rush over to the others, to see if maybe one of them had thought more into how to defeat the beast.

"Can he even die?" Yoskolo said, gesturing wildly at the lion. He was slowly moving to its feet, growling and prowling and moving with the agility of a young tiger-bear. "Or can we disable him, for a while?"

"I have a plan!" Sangye said, deflecting the first wave of fire sent their way with a blast of now heated air. "I think we can only delay it, but only for a while, and keep going with the river. We'll put more space between us."

The lion jumped forward, claws outstretched and mouth roaring and open, flames licking tongue and dancing about the teeth. Yoskolo moved, even in the thick of everything, with grace, hands behind him, flowing like the water he grabbed, and twirling to force the water onto the legs of the lion. The waterbender yanked down, pulling the lion to the ground again. He pushed his hands out, palm forward, to freeze the water.

"It will only hold the lion for a short time, so go. What's the plan, Sangye?" Yoskolo yelled.

"The lava! We encase him in the lava and leave! Hardening it with our air and the water will solidify it, while Kulap and Zhi Ruo can manipulate it around him, trapping it. If he stays for too long, he'll be put in a slumber outside of the chambers, so he won't gain any strength back."

"Or he'll just break out," Kulap said, suddenly doubtful. "He knows how to use fire too."

"But to tortoise isn't here! We can only manipulate it because of you and Zhi Ruo. Without earth and fire working together, he can't really get out. Trust me!"

Tangled in Sangye's plan, nerves already on the fritz from being on the run, the group moved, watching the lion break out of the ice. He roared in anger, flames arching out of his mouth. He ran towards the group, and they all worked in unison, dodging and tumbling. Slowly, they progressed towards the volcano, each step getting hotter and hotter as they approached it.

There was no real way for them to get close to the volcano at the moment without risking the lion tripping them in. Zhi Ruo needed to create a bridge through the river, create a walkway for all of them and hardened rocks of lava closer to the volcano. It was tedious, as the lion moved quickly and flames lapped at her clothes. However, the other three kept him distracted, pulling his attention each and every way around Zhi Ruo.

What you don't see can't kill you.

Wrong.

They were very much going to kill him. Tradition be damned. They were going to live through Bolormaa's hideous plan. And they were going to start a new tradition on willingness and connection with other worlds and other elements. They were going to bridge the gap that the Avatar had left when they disappeared thousands of years ago. They were going to bring that element of togetherness back into the world.

"Bridge is ready!" Zhi Ruo shouted, skirting across the watery bridge and creating platforms out of some of the already cooled down lava rock. "Quickly! The river is moving fast here and the bridge might not hold for long!"

Kulap sent one last jet of flames at the lion, catching part of his mane on fire and dashed across the bridge. She jumped at the edge of the bridge, creating a blast of flames to propel her across the gap of the bridge and the volcano. Zhi Ruo, seeing Yoskolo and Sangye move closer to their positions, did the same move as she had done to get over the lion, catapulting herself across the bridge as well, landing shakily next to Kulap.

"This better work," the firebender said, nodding at the other two benders across the way. "I don't want to die here."

"It's not my plan this time," Zhi Ruo replied.

Kulap cut her eyes angrily to the earthbender. "No, but it was your plan that got us here." With a shake of her head, Kulap said, "Get ready, they're baiting him to us. We don't have a lot of time to get the hot lava over to where it's supposed to meet the river."

Over near the bridge, Yoskolo and Sangye were walking backwards across the bridge Zhi Ruo created. Yoskolo, pulling water and splashing the lion, and Sangye blasting him with air waves after waves, effectively blow drying all the water away. As the two approached the edge of the bridge, Yoskolo was twirling his hands behind his back, creating a whirlpool that would become a bubble that would become that area they would hide while Zhi Ruo and Kulap pulled the lion across the water.

The two benders in the heat of things, literally, were already pushing lava towards the river, moving their platform closer and closer to get a better position. Everything was an exact science, and they were all balancing on the edge precariously. Zhi Ruo divided her attention between the lava and destroying the bridge behind the green-eyed lion. He was roaring and growling and stomping, effectively doing her job for her.

Yoskolo jumped back first, Sangye following closely behind. Them disappearing in the water was the cue. Zhi Ruo abandoned the lava momentarily to plant her feet on the ground harder, connecting her across lava and earth and water to the bridge she had created. It was a distance, and it was a struggle, but she had trained for years and years. This was nothing.

She catapulted the lion right across the water while Yoskolo and Sangye jumped back out of the water, landing on the bridge in a flourish of water and swirling air. Flailing legs and a screech, much like Bolormaa's eyes on the day of the ceremony, landed in the lava, splashing hot bulbs of earth towards the two on the platform.

It was easier done than how Sangye described it to be. The beasts were immortal, yes, but they were not invincible. They didn't age. However, the blows they landed on the beast during the fight had caused him to bleed, and the lava was eating his skin alive. It smelled terribly, and Zhi Ruo took a frightened step back.

Kulap grabbed her arm, jerking her head to look at the other bender. There was a fierceness in her eyes, unmatched by anything Zhi Ruo had seen upon any bender she met. "This was your plan. You put everything into motion, Zhi Ruo. You cannot back down because he's dying. He wasn't even yours. Move the lava."

Would she be this scared if they killed any of the other beasts? What about the gentle tortoise? Would it be this gruesome?

As all four of them worked to cool the lava that was slowly moving atop the lion, all Zhi Ruo could imagine was the flesh peeling off the lion, and the awful noises that were coming out of his mouth. She could see the other two felt the same way. Kulap was the strongest, the sturdiest, and did not falter in the face of death. Zhi Ruo tried to think how old she was, but could not tell despite the wrinkles that worked against her face.

They all had gray in their hair. The stress created it, and that was no marker of age throughout the group. Kulap had never backed down before, and today was no different. Shortly, the lion stopped making sounds, and the lava had hardened and moved closer to the river. They had no idea if he was dead, or if Bolormaa knew about what occurred.

High above, circling with smaller birds and animals in the sky, the hawk took note of everything. She watched the group collect some items from where they camped, jump back into the river, and disappear around the volcano. She flapped her wings, moving her higher, and started flying back to Bolormaa, knowing one of the animals was dead.

Bolormaa would not be pleased.


End file.
